Card-sorting method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

A selected group of edge-notched cards, to be removed from other cards of a stack, are moved downwardly onto selector bars relative to the other cards, preferably with the assistance of a physically engaging device such as a brush. The other cards are then moved rearwardly, after which the selected cards are raised and moved forwardly for removal. The card-supporting and moving members may be operated by means connected to a common camshaft for proper sequential operation. A card punch mechanism may be operable with the selector bars for notching the cards.

United States Patent [72] Inventors John H. Lanahan [56] ReferencesCited 'P f UNlTED STATES PATENTS I N gi gg 2,090,635 8/1937 Nevin209/805 g Q i A I 1969 3,292,631 12/1966 Cross,.lr..,.... 209/805P'alemed 3,313,302 4/1967 Lasley etal... 209/805 Assignee Mohawklndustria' Laboratories Inc. 3,326,219 6/1967 Hall 209/805 Vernon, N.Y.Primary Examiner-Allen N. Knowles Attorney-Larson, Taylor & HindsABSTRACT: A selected group of edge-notched cards, to be removed fromother cards of a stack, are moved downwardly 1 onto selector barsrelative to the other cards, preferably with [54] M S AM) APPARATUS theassistance ofa physically engaging device such as a brush. rawmg Theother cards are then moved rearwardly, after which the [52] U.S. Cl209/80.5, selected cards are raised and moved forwardl for removal.

I y 83/587, 83/687 The card-supporting and moving members may beoperated [51] lnt.Cl. B07c 3/18 by means connected to a common camshaftfor proper [50] Field of Search 209/8015, sequential operation. A cardpunch mechanism may be operable with the selector bars for notching thecards.

PATENTEU m2 I9]! 3586; 166

SHEET 1 OF 6 INVENTORS JOHN H. LANAHAN WILLIAM W. ABRAHAM ATTORNEYSPATENTEU JUH22 I971 SHEET 2 BF 6 INVI JN'I'ORS JOHN H. LANAHAN WILLIAMW. ABRAHAM ATTORNEYS PATENTED JUN22 1971 SHEET 3 [IF 6 FIG] s I 0 T N EV m J0 H N H LANAHAN WILLIAM W. ABRAHAM ATTORNEYS PATENTEB JUN22 I97!SHEET 6 BF 6 CARDS FIG. [74

HUB

FIG. [75

INVENTORS JOHN H. LANAHAN WILLIAM W. ABRAHAM cAtto-sott'rmc METHOD ANDAPPARATUS BACKGROUND This invention relates to card Sorting; and inparticular, it relates to the sorting of edge-notched cards.

Numerous arrangements are presently known for sorting edge-notchedcards. These range from simple mechanical elongated rod devices tocomplex automatic machines. However, all known methods and apparatus arelimited in one way or another. The manual devices are either too slow orthey are of insufficient capacity, while the complex automatic machinestend to be quite expensive. Further, the complexity of these automaticmachines greatly increases the probability of a malfunction.

Thus, there exists a need for a new and improved card sorting method andapparatus which will strike a more advantageous balance betweensimplicity, capacity, economy and reliability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thus, it is a purpose of this invention toprovide a new and improved card-sorting method and apparatus whichovercomes many of the problems and disadvantages of previously knowncard-sorting arrangements. This purpose of the invention is accomplishedby providing a new procedure for manipulating the cards in an efficientmanner; and also a new and improved apparatus for carrying out thisprocedure feature, the said apparatus being constituted by a uniquearrangement of interrelated operating elements, which arrangement iscompact in size as well as economical to produce and reliable inoperation.

in accordance with the method of the present invention, a stack of cardscontaining a random collection of both selected cards and cards to berejected is arranged with an edge of all cards of the stack in alignmentwith each other, the notches being formed on said aligned edges. Apredetermined combination of selector bars are presented to the alignededges, the said combination corresponding to the pattern of the notchesin the cards to be selected and removed from the stack. The selectedcards are moved towards the selector bars in a first direction, afterwhich the rejected cards are moved in a second direction generallyperpendicular to the said first direction. The selected cards are thenmoved in a third direction, generally opposite to the said firstdirection, after which the selected cards are engaged and moved in afourth direction, generally opposite to the said second direction. Theselected cards then project in the said fourth direction and arerelative to the rejected cards thus positioned for removal from theremaining (i.e. rejected) cards of the stack,

The present invention also includes an apparatus for carrying out themethod of the present invention, said apparatus comprising a bank ofselector bars flanked by front and rear vertically movable riser bars.The aligned edges of the cards are arranged to extend from the frontriser bar, across the bank of selector bars to the rear riser bar. Inoperation, the cards are first supported on and above the front and rearriser bars. in one embodiment the tops of the selector bars are at aslightly lower level than the tops of the riser bars. However, tofacilitate insertion of the cards, the machine may also be constructedwith the tops of the selector bars even with the tops of the riser bars.Certain selector bars corresponding to the predetermined notch patternare then raised relative to the other selector bars, after which thefront and rear riser bars are moved downwardly, permitting the stack ofcards to fall onto the selector bars, and further permitting theselected cards having the predetermined notch pattern to move downwardlyrelative to the other cards since all the raised selector bars enternotches in the selected cards. The rejected cards not having thepredetermined notch pattern then rest on top of the raised selector barssince at least one raised selector bar will not be aligned with a notchon each and every rejected card. The rejected cards, which are now in araised position relative to the selected cards, are. moved rearwardly atleast until the front edges of the rejected cards are to the rear of thefront riser bar. The front riser bar is then moved upwardly, raisingonly-the selected cards, until the front ends of the selected cards arelocated above the upper corner of the tops of the rejected cards.Suitable means then engage the raised selected cards and move themforwardly to a position whereat they can be conveniently removed fromthe remaining (i.e. rejected) cards of the stack.

in accordance with a feature of the present invention, the front andrear riser bars, the set of selector bars and the means for moving thecards rearwardly and forwardly are all operatively connected to a commoncontrol means whereby proper sequential operation of these elements isassured. More specifically, this arrangement may include amotor-operated shaft having a plurality of cams mounted thereon, one ofsaid cams being operatively connected to said front riser bar, anothercam being operatively'connected to said rear riser bar, another cambeing operatively connected to the set of selector bars, and another cambeing operatively connected to the means for moving the cards forwardlyand rearwardly.

In accordance with another feature of this invention, the means formoving the rejected cards rearwardly and then moving the selected cardsforwardly may comprise the cover member of the apparatus, the covermember being mounted for forward and rearward movement to effect saidforward and rearward movement of the cards, and also for upward movementto facilitate insertion of the stack of cards into the apparatus andremoval of the rejected cards after the sorting procedure. However,notwithstanding theses separate functions, the cover member is still ofsufficient size and is positioned to act as a dust cover to keep dustoff of the cards.

Another feature of the invention comprises a new and improvedarrangement for causing the selected cards to move downwardly in thefirst direction relative to the remaining cards of the stack. Contraryto previous arrangements which have relied upon forced air, vibrationand the like, with this feature of the present invention, means areprovided for physically engaging the cards and ruffling the same,thereby providing a means for positively engaging and moving theselected cards. In a preferred arrangement of the present invention,this means comprises rotating brushes which engage the top and side ofthe stack of cards. The bristles of the brushes are so constructed thatthey will apply a sufficient force to the selected cards to move thesame downwardly onto selector bars, thereby overcoming frictional andelectrostatic forces tending to hold the selected cards in the stack.Concurrently, the bristles should contain sufficient resilience suchthat when they engage the rejected cards which cannot be moved, theywill yield rather than damage the rejected cards.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, the apparatusincludes an arrangement for punching notches of any desired pattern inan edge of a card, the punching apparatus being operable in combinationwith the selector bars of the apparatus. More specifically, thearrangement may include a means mounted on the side of the apparatusadjacent one end of the selector bars, for holding a card to be punched.In one embodiment the edge to be punched is placed in a recesscontaining a plurality of notching devices, one notching device beingprovided for each possible notch position on the edge of the card. Eachnotching device is mounted, relative to the selector bar correspondingto that position, such that the notching device is operative to punchthe card when that said selector bar is selected (that is, movedsideways from its normal position) and then raised. Therefore, inoperation, the operator would place the card to be punched into themeans for holding the card and then operate the sorting apparatus inexactly the same manner as he would at the start of a sorting procedure,namely by punching a keyboard or the like to select certain selectorbars corresponding to a predeterrniend notch pattern. By then raisingthe chosen selector bars, the operator would automatically actuate thenotching devices to notch the card. ln another embodiment, a singlenotching device travels along the card edge to be notched, stopping toperform a notching operation whenever it engages a selected selectorbar, that is, a bar which has been moved sideways from its normalnonactuated position.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improvedcard-sorting method and apparatus.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improvedmethod and apparatus for sorting edge-notched cards wherein the cardsare manipulated to move the selected cards downwardly, the rejectedcards rearwardly, the selected cards upwardly, and then the selectedcards forwardly for removal.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improvedarrangement wherein the various means for manipulating the cards areoperatively connected to a common control means for assuringpredetermined sequential operation of these parts.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improvedarrangement for causing initial separation of selected edge-notchedcards from the remaining cards of the stack, including means forphysically engaging the cards of the stack.

It is another object of this invention to provide an arrangementincluding a rotating brush for causing initial separation of selectededge-notched cards from a stack of edge-notched cards.

It is another object of this invention to provide a card-sortingapparatus wherein the cover member of the apparatus is movable andserves the additional function of engaging and moving the cards duringvarious stages in the card-sorting procedure.

Another object of this invention is to provide, in combination with acard-sorting apparatus, a means for punching notches in the edge ofcards.

Other objects and the attendant advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the detailed description to follow and also theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS There follows a detailed descriptionof a preferred embodiment of the present invention, together withaccompanying drawings. However, it is to be understood that the detaileddescription and the accompanying drawings are provided solely for thepurpose of illustrating a preferred embodiment, and that the inventionis capable of numerous modifications and variations apparent to thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

FIG. I is an external, partially schematic, perspective view of anapparatus constructed in accordance with the features of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken in a vertical planethrough the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken through a vertical planethrough line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the apparatus takenalong line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the apparatus takenalong line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the apparatus takenalong line 6-6 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the apparatus and is taken along avertical plane passing through line 7-7 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a partial elevational view of the apparatus taken along line8-8 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is a partial elevational view of the apparatus taken along line9-9 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 10 is a partial sectional view taken on line 10-10 of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a partial development view of the brush, a part of which isshown in FIGS. 9 and I0.

FIG. I2 is a plan view of the portion of FIG. 3 showing thecard-punching device.

FIG. 13 is a vertical sectional view showing a portion of the apparatusand taken along line 13-13 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of another embodiment of the cardpunching device.

FIG. 15 is a side elevational view taken in the direction of the arrow Pin FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is an end elevational view taken in the direction of the arrow Qin FIG. 15.

FIGS. 17A through 17F illustrate the manipulation of the cards forcarrying out the sorting procedure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to thedrawings, like numerals are used to represent like elements throughoutthe specification.

FIG. I is a generally schematic view of a card-sorting apparatus 20constructed in accordance with the features of the present invention.The apparatus includes a front opening 21 to an interior space boundedby sidewalls 22 and 23 and a rear wall 24. A cover member 25 is locatedabove the interior space. This cover member is capable of movingforwardly and rearwardly as indicated by the arrow A and it is alsocapable of swinging upwardly as indicated by the arrow B. Acard-engaging lip 26 extends transversely across the front of the covermember 25. The bottom of the interior space of the apparatus includes afixed front partition 30, front and rear riser bars 27 and 28, and a setof selector bars, indicated generally as 29. In a preferred embodiment,the set consists of 55 selector bars.

Although the operation of the invention will be explained in greaterdetail below, it would be helpful at this point to understand the basicoperation of the elements described above and illustrated in FIG. 11.The cover member 25 is pivoted upwardly about an axis located toward therear of the apparatus and the stack of cards to be sorted is placed inthe interior space such that the front and rear of the stack rest onriser bars 27 and 28, respectively. The cover member 25 is then loweredto the position shown in FIG. l. The cards are then acted upon bymovement of the cover member 25, the riser bars 27 and 23, the set ofselector bars 29, and also a brush separator device. At the end of thismanipulation the selected cards, that is the cards having apredetermined notch pattern along their lower edges, project outwardlythrough the opening 21, preferably beyond the front partition 3ft,whereat the selected cards can be conveniently removed.

It is a feature of the invention that the various elements are operatedin proper sequence. This is accomplished by means of camshaft 40 whichis driven by means of a motor 41 through suitable gearing 42 and 413,the latter being connected to the shaft by means of key 44. Fixed onthis shaft are a plurality of cams which rotate with the shaft and whichcontrol the movement of the cover member 25, the riser bars 27 and 28,and the set of selector bars 29. The shaft 414) is supported in rollerbearings 48R and 48L which are mounted in sidewalls 22 and 23,respectively.

A set of cams 415] and 45R control movement of the selector bars 29. Thecams 46L and 46R control movement of the rear riser bar 28 and the cams47 L and 47R control movement of the front riser bar 27.

FIG. 3 illustrates the means for operating the selector bars, and inparticular, a specific selector bar 29A. As noted above, a preferredembodiment of the invention includes 55 selector bars, all of which aresubstantially identical to the selector bar 29A shown in FIG. 3. Theselector bars are supported by the sidewalls 22 and 23, and also byadditional guide plates 22A and 223 which are adjacent the sidewall 22,and guide plate 23A and 238 which are adjacent the sidewall 23 (see alsoFIG. 7). The selector bars are capable of undergoing sliding movementfrom right to left and left to right as shown in FIG. 3. It will benoted that the selector bars include lower recesses 60 which, in thenormal position of the bar, are positioned immediately above right andleft lift bars as. Adjacent the sidewall 22 there is provided a bank ofsolenoid devices 61,

one for each of the 55 selector bars 29. The solenoids are mounted onsuitable frames 63. The solenoid device 61A which operates the selectorbar 29A, includes an armature 62 which engages the end of selector bar29A. If it is desired to select the specific selector bar 29A, thesolenoid 61A is actuated, as a result of which the armature 62 engagesthe end of selector bar 29A and urges it to the right, (as shown in FIG.3) until the end 60 of the recess adjacent sidewall 22 engages the sideof its respective lift bar 64. After all of the desired selector barshave been moved to the right (as shown in FIG. 3) the lift bars 64 areraised. It can be seen that the lift bars 64 will engage and moveupwardly only those selector bars which have been moved by theirrespective solenoid devices. The lift bars 64 will enter the recesses 60of the remaining selector bars.

Adjacent the sidewall 23, the apparatus includes a special mechanism 70for punching a predetermined pattern of notches in a card. Thismechanism will be explained in greater detail below.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a selector bar lever 75, which is mounted forpivoting movement about a fixed pivot axis 76,

includes at one end thereof a cam-following roller 77 which engages thesurface of cam 45L. At its other end, the lever 75 is connected by meansof a screw 78 to one of the two lift bars 64. This lift bar includes apair of elongated slots 79 which permit vertical movement of the liftbar 64 relative to fixed guide pins 80. Thus, when the roller 77 engagesthe raised portion of cam 45L the lever 75 will pivot about axis 76 suchthat the lift bar 64 is moved upwardly, raising those selector barswhich have been moved laterally by their respective solenoid devices ofthe bank 6.

FIG. 5 illustrates the operation of the rear riser bar 28. A rear riserbar lever 85 is mounted for pivoting movement about a fixed pivot axis86. Attached at one end of the lever 75 is a cam-following roller 87.The other end of lever 85 is attached to the riser bar 28 by means ofscrew 88. Thus, as the roller 87 engages a high portion of cam 46L, theriser bar 28 will move upwardly.

FIG. 6 illustrates the elements for operating the front riser bar 27. Afront riser bar lever 90 is mounted for pivoting movement about fixedpivot axis 91, and includes a cam-following roller 92 at one end and ascrew 93 at its other end for connecting the said other end to the frontriser bar 27. The lever 90 also includes a recess 94 to accommodate therear riser bar 28 so that upward movement of the rear portion of lever90 (which, in effect, is downward movement of front riser bar 27) doesnot affect the rear riser bar 28.

FIGS. 2, 7 and 8;, illustrate the elements for causing movement of thecover member Referring first to FIG. 2 and 7, an eccentric cam 49 ismounted on at least one end of shaft 40. This cam 39 is located withinan enlarged recess 53 in a drive arm 50. This drive arm 50 is mountedfor pivoting movement about a fixed pivot axis 52. A pin 51 extendsthrough and inwardly from the drive arm 50. Referring now to FIG. 7,this pin 51 is located between front and rear stop screws 101 and 102 ofthe left sideplate104 of the cover member 25. When the drive arm 50 ismoved counterclockwise about its pivot 52, the pin 51 engages the stopscrew 101 to drive the cover member 25 forwardly. And conversely,clockwise movement of the drive arm 50 will cause pin 51 to engage thestop screw 102 to move the cover member rearwardly. Concurrently,however, the cover member is free to be lifted by being turned clockwiseabout pivot pin 51 (as viewed in FIGS. 7 and 8). Thus, it can be seenthat turning movement of the cam shaft 40 causes forward and rearwardmovement of the cover member 25. However, it is also necessary to effectvertical movement of the cover member 25 during its forward and rearwardmovement. The means for accomplishing this vertical movement are shownin detail in FIG. 8. FIG. 8 illustrates the front portion of sideplate104. At the forward end of sideplate 104, there is provided a mounting105 for holding the transversely extending lip 26. A cam plate 106,attached to the plate 104, includes a horizontal upper surface and adownwardly extending tip 107. The plate 104 also has formed therein arecess 108.

Attached to the corresponding sidewall 23, is a cam having an upwardlyprojecting end. As the cover member moves rearwardly the tip 107 of theplate 106 rides along the surface of cam 110 as a fixed pin 109 engagesthe upper surface of plate 106 to hold the cover member 25 down. At thistime the upwardly projecting portion of 110 is located in the recess 108so that it does not cause upward movement of the cover member 25. Apoint is then reached at which the cam plate 106 passes behind the fixedpin 109, and tip 107 engages and rides up the upwardly projecting partof cam 110. At this time, of course, the cover member 25 is raisedslightly upwardly as indicated by moved position in FIG. 8. In theoperation of the device it is desired that during return movement of thecover member 25 towards its forward position, the cover member be heldin this slightly raised position until the cover member is almost at itsforwardmost position. This is accomplished by elements Ill through 114.In the absence of these elements, as the cover member 25 movedforwardly, the tip 107 would ride over the upwardly projecting part ofcam 110 after which the cam member 25 would be lowered. The elements 111through 114 comprise a screw 111, connected at one end to the cam 110and connected at its other end to av guide pin 112, the latter beingslidable in slot 113. Cam 110 is urged to the right (as shown in FIG. 8)by the spring 114. Thus, in operation, as the cover member 25 is movingforwardly, and the tip 107 engages the upwardly projecting part of cam110, rather than ride over this part, it will cause this part to bemoved forwardly (to the left in FIG. 8) until the head on guide pin I12reaches the forward end of slot 113, after which the tip 107 will rideover the. said upper portion of cam 110 so that the cover member 25 willbe lowered in its forwardmost position.

At a certain stage during the operation of the invention, the selectedones of the selector barsare raised, and the stack of cards is releasedsuch that the selected cards will move downwardly relative to theremaining cards of the stack as the latter are held in the upperposition by engagement of their lower edges on top of the raisedselector bars. However, because of frictional and electrostatic forcesbetween the selected cards and the remaining cards of the stack, theselected cards will not more freely Thus, it is necessary to exert aforce of some kind on the stack of cards to cause the selected cards tomove. In the past, vibration, forced air, magnetic attraction and thelike have been employed for this purpose. However, a feature of thepresent invention includes a new and improved arrangement for effectingseparation of the selected cards from the remaining cards at this point.Specifi cally, the arrangement includes a means, preferably one or morerotating brushes, which physically engage the stack of cards forruffling the cards of the stack to overcome the forces preventing thedownward movement of the selected cards.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 and 10, there is shown, adjacent the rightsideplate of the cover member 25, a brush motor 121 which rotates adrive wheel 122 which in turn drives a belt 123. This belt 123 in turnoperates an idler pulley 124 rotating this pulley 124, about fixed axis125. This idler pulley 124 in turn operates belts I26 and 128 forturning brushes 127 and 129, respectively As shown in FIG. 11, in apreferred embodiment, the brushes include a staggered arrangement ofbristles. The brush is divided into a plurality of bays," each bayhaving a plurality of axially extending brushes staggered axially andspaced apart around the periphery of the brush. This has the advantageof reducing power requirements since only a portion of the stack ofcards is acted on at any given moment. In one preferred embodiment ofthe invention, there are ten bays," each having a total thickness w ofL2 inches which is equal to the width of I00 cards, the total devicethus being l2 inches long and holding 1,000 cards. Each bay includes sixbrushes with a length X equal to 0.4 inches and spaced equally, i.e. at60 intervals, about the periphery of the brush. The brushes overlapaxially by an amount Y equal to 0.05

inches such that each bristle presents a nonoverlapping portion of alength Z equal to 0.3 inches. The apparatus can include a divider platephysically separating each bay from its adjacent bays. I

Also visible in FIG. 9 is a portion of a rear abutment member 130attached to the cover member 25 and extending across the rear of theapparatus above the front of brush 129 for locating the rear end of thecards as they are initially placed into the apparatus.

The present invention also includes a new and improved means forpunching a desired pattern of notches in the cards, one embodiment ofwhich is shown in FIGS. 3, 12, and 13. Referring to FIG. 3, there isshown a punch 140 and a die 141. These elements abut on the left-handside (as shown in FIG. 3) but they form a recess 142 at their otherside. The purpose of this recess is to receive the edge of the card tobe punched. Each punch and die elements are urged downwardly by a spring145, which acts against an upper abutment 146, urging the punch and dieagainst a lower abutment 147. It will be noted that the lower portion ofpunch 140 is adjacent the end of selector bar 29A. Thus, if the selectorbar 29A were in its actuated position (to the right from its position asshown in FIG. 3) and if the selector bar were then moved upwardly, thiswould move the elements 140 and 141 upwardly against the force of spring145. Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, it will be seen that there are aplurality of punch and die units 140 and 141, one such unit for eachpossible punch position along the edge of a card. The unit includes aholding device 148 for holding a-card 144 to be punched so that itsappropriate edge fits into the recesses 142 of all 55 punch and dieunits. FIG. 13 illustrates one punch and die unit in its actuatingposition, ac tuated by its respective selector bar 29. It will be notedthat 'the upper edge of punch 140 adjacent the recess is curved.

This is to assure proper movement of a punch 140 between adjacent dies141 as it moves upwardly. The remaining edges of the punch 140 are ofcourse straight and they act-by shearing the edge against the loweredges of the said adjacent dies 141 to remove the material from the card144 and hence form the notch.

As noted earlier, movement of the selector bars 29 to the right (fromtheposition as shown in FIG. 3) places them in such a position thatupward movement of these bars will activate the appropriate punch anddie units. However, when forming punches in a card, it will notnecessarily be desired to concurrently start the motor 41 to operate theapparatus. Therefore, the necessary upward movement of the selector bars29 for operating the punch and die units may be brought about by meansof a solenoid 160 which operates through a suitable lever system 161 sothat surface 162 thereof abuts the lower right-hand edges of theappropriate selector bars causing upward movement thereof.

It is also necessary to form a notch in the edge of the cards oppositefrom that edge containing the predetermined pattern of notches forengagement by the transversely extending lip 26 for moving the cards.Referring to FIGS. 3 and 12, the apparatus includes, for this purpose, adie 150 and a punch 151, the latter being actuated by means of asolenoid 152. The apparatus is mounted on the holder 148 by means of asuitable frame 153.

FIGS. 14 through 16 illustrate an alternative embodiment of a means forpunching a desired pattern of notches in the cards.

In this apparatus 200, the card 201 to be punched is slid into the cardguide plate 202. A punch assembly 203 includes a guide member 203A whichis located in a recess 204, in the sidewall 23 and movablelongitudinally in said recess, (from right to left and left to right asshown in FIGS. 14 and A motor 205, mounted on the apparatus turns adrive pulley 209 which in turn moves a cable 206 about idler pulleys207. The cable 206, as shown, is wound three times about 209. The cable206 and the pulley 209 are constructed such that, while the cable isnormally driven by the pulley 209, it can slip relative thereto, whenanother means prevents movement of cable 206. For this result the cable206 may be, for example, a

nylon-covered stainless steel braided cable and the pulley 209 may be apolished steel drum. The ends of cable 206 are held by clamp 208. End206a is knotted while end 2106b is held firmly by clip 208a of clamp208. Clip 200a can be loosened and the end 206b moved, as desired, foradjusting the tension in the cable 206.-

To start the punching cycle, the appropriate selector bars 29 are firstmoved by their respective solenoids of the bank of solenoids 61 inexactly the same manner as with the previously described embodiment ofthe punching device. Such a moved selector bar is shown in the FIGS. at29. See in particular FIG. 16.

To start the operation of the device 200, the card is placed into theguide plate 202 while the assembly 203 is located at the far left (asviewed in FIGS. 14 and 15). The motor 206 is then operated to turn thecable to move the assembly 203 from left to right. The assembly 203 willcontinue its movement to the right until its plunger 210 engages theprojecting selector bar 29. This will cause electrical contacts 211 toclose thereby actuating a solenoid device 212. This in turn forces aplunger arm 213 downwardly thereby turning a punch-actuating lever 214downwardly about its pivot axis 2141A, and this lever 214 in turn actsdirectly upon a punch 215 of the assembly 203 urging the same downwardlythrough the edge of the card, thereby effecting the notch, and into amating recess in a die 216, the latter also forming a part of theassembly 203. It will be noted that the elongated lever 214 will act onthe punch 215 regardless of the position of the punch 215 along thelength of the device. I

When the punch reaches its full downward travel, a limit switch (notshown) is tripped, thereby deenergizing the solenoid 212. At this time,return spring 217 moves the punch 215 to its original position. This inturn trips another limit switch (not shown) which actuates a solenoid218. As best shown in FIG. 16, solenoid 218 turns a lever 220 clockwiseabout its pivot axis 221 thereby causing an elongated bar 222 to move tothe right (as shown in FIG. 16). This is turn acts upon a plunger 219,which is mounted in and travels with the as sembly 203, to the right (asshown in FIG. 16) thereby urging the selector bar 29 to its retracted,original position.

During the entire punching procedure, the pulley 209 was turning.However, the cable 206 was slipping, relative to the pulley 209, becauseof the nature of the engagement between these elements. Thus, aftertheselector bar 29 is moved to its original position the assembly 203 isnow free to and in fact does travel with the cable 206 until the plunger210 engages the next displaced selector bar. At this time, the punchingprocedure, as recited above, is repeated. When the assembly 203 hascompleted its movement from left to right (as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15)a limit switch, not shown, is tripped, thereby reversing the rotation ofmotor 205 causing the punch assembly 203 to return to its originalposition at the left (as shown in FIGS. M and 15) end of the device.When the assembly reaches this left end position, it trips still anotherlimit switch (not shown) thereby completing the cycle and cutting offthe motor 205.

This arrangement also includes a device 223 for forming a notch in thetop of the cards, this device being identical to the unit in thepreviously described embodiment of the punching device.

The method of the invention and the operation of the apparatus will nowbe explained in detail with special reference to diagrammatic FIGS. 17Athrough 17F in which the porportions of some elements have beenexaggerated to facilitate explaining the operation of the invention. Inthese figures, the letters S and R represent the selected and rejectedcards, respectively. Further, the arrows shown in these figuresrepresent movement which will take place as the various elements movebetween the position in which the arrows are shown and the nextposition.

Referring to H0. 17A, the stack of cards including both the to beselected and the to be rejected cards, are placed into the interior ofthe apparatus 20 behind front partition 30 so that they rest on frontand rear riser bars 27 and 26. At this time all selector bars 29 are intheir lowered position. At this time the code of the card or cards to beretrieved is entered on a keyboard (not shown) which in turn operatesthe desired combination of solenoids of the bank of solenoids 61. Thismoves the chosen selector bars laterally, in position to be raised. Atthis time the cams 45L, 46L and 47L are in the positions as shown inFIGS. 4 through 6. Of course, the corresponding cam, 45R, 46R and 47R,respectively, are symmetrical and are thus in the same positions asshown in FIGS. 4 through 6. Also, the eccentric 49 is in its forwardmostposition which corresponds to the forwardmost position of the covermember 25.

The motor is now operated to turn the camshaft 40. This turns the cams45 through 47 in the direction as indicated by the arrows in FIGS. 4through 6. First, the lift bars 64 are raised to raise the selected onesof the selector bars 29. Almost immediately thereafter, the low pointsof the cams 46 and 47 act through their appropriate levers to causedownward movement of the riser bars 27 and 28. This position is shown inFIG. 178. In the absence of frictional and electro static forces, theselected cards would move downwardly at this time as the notches of theselected cards moved onto the raised selector bars, while the bottoms ofthe rejected cards would rest on top of the raised selector bars.However, since frictional and electrostatic forces must be considered,an additional means is required at this time to act on the stack ofcards to cause the selected cards to move downwardly. At this time themotor 41 may be stopped while motor 121 is operated to rotate theseparator brushes 127 and 129. As a result of this movement, theselected cards move downwardly and the cards assume the positions shownin FIG. 17C.

At this time the time delay times out, once again energizing the cammotor 41 to turn the camshaft 40. At this time the extended lowersurfaces L of the cams 46 and 47 engage their respective rollers to holdthe riser bars down and the selector bars up while concurrently theeccentric 49 acts to move the cover member rearwardly so that thetransverse lip 26 moves rearwardly from its original forward position asshown in FIG. 117A (see also FIG. 7) until it engages the notches in theupper edges of the rejected cards to move the same rearwardly from theposition of ll7C to the position 17D. At this time the raised surfaces Hof the cam 46 and 47 reach their respective rollers to raise the riserbars 27 and 28. However, it is evident that the first part of the raisedportion of cam 47 is higher than that of cam 46. The purpose of this isto raise the front riser bar 27 higher than the rear riser bar 28,thereby tilting the front of the selected cards upwardly, above theupper level of the rejected cards, to the position as shown in FIG. 175.At this time, the cover member again commences its forward movement, thevertical position of the cover member being such that its transverselyextending lip 26 engages the upper notches of the selected cards andmoves the same forwardly such that when the lip 26 has reached itsoriginal forward position, the fronts of the selected cards (forward ofthe notch) extend beyond the front partition 30 so that the selectedcards can be conveniently removed from the apparatus. Meanwhile, duringthis forward movement of the cover member, and of the selected cards,abutment member 130 engages the rear of the rejected cards to move thesame forwardly to the original position over the riser bars 27 and 28.At this time the selected cards are removed and the selector barsdropped. The rejected cards can then be removed, or alternatively, theyare in position for a subsequent sorting cycle. When the cover memberreaches its left-hand position, it activates a limit switch (not shown)to turn off the apparatus.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail withrespect to a preferredembodiment thereof, it will be apparent that theinvention is capable of numerous modifications and variations apparentto those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for mechanically sorting certain selected cards from astack of cards containing a random collection of both selected cards andcards to be rejected, comprising, a means for positioning said stack ofcards'such that at least one edge of all cards of the stack are inalignment with other means for moving the selected cards in a firstdirection relative to the rejected cards to separate the said edges ofthe selected cards from the said edges of the rejected cards in the saidfirst direction, means for moving the rejected cards in a seconddirection generally perpendicular to the first direction, relative tothe selected cards, and means for moving the selected cards in a thirddirection generally opposite to the said first direction.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 including means operable after the last saidmeans for moving the selected cards in a fourth direction generallyopposite to thesaid second direction.

'3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the cards are edge notched cardsand wherein cards having a predetermined notch pattern are separatedfrom other cards of a stack which do not have the predetermined notchpattern, and wherein said aligned edges of the cards containing thenotches and are the lower edges of the cards. I

4. The apparatus of claim 3 including a set of selector bars positionedbelow the cards, and means for raising certain ones of said selectorbars corresponding to said predetermined pattern of edge notches.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 including front and rear vertically movableriser bars mounted below the cards for supporting the same.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, said front and rear risers are initiallylocated at a level at least as high as the certain selector bars forsupporting the stack of cards, and including means for subsequentlylowering the front and rear riser bars below the tops of the selectorbars to permit the cards to move onto the selector bars, whereby theselected cards move in said first direction lower than the rejectedcards as the nonnotched parts of the selected cards move below the topof the raised certain selector bars.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said means for moving the rejectedcards in the second direction includes means for engaging the upperportions of said rejected cards.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said apparatus includes a covermember located above the cards and movable in said second direction, andwherein said cover member includes an element which engages the rejectedcards and moves the same in said second direction.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 including a rotatable camshaft, saidcamshaft having at least four cams fixed thereon, the first camoperatively connected to said selector bars for raising the certainselector bars, the second and third cams operatively connected to saidfront and rear riser bars, respectively, and the fourth cam operativelyconnected to the cover member, whereby, by rotating said camshaft, saidselector bars, said riser bars, and said cover member are operated inpredetermined sequence with each other.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, .wherein said cover memberalso.constitutes a means for moving the selected cards in a fourthdirection, opposite to said second direction, after the selected cardshave been moved in said third direction until at least a part of saidselected cards are located above the rejected cards.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the said means for moving theselected cards in the third direction comprises said front riser barwhich is movable upwardly, independently of the rear riser bar, afterthe rejected cards have been moved in the second direction.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 including a camshaft having at least threecams fixed thereon, a first cam operatively connected to saidselectorbars to raise the same, a second and a third cam operativelyconnected to said front and rear riser bars, respectively, whereby, byrotating said camshaft, said selector bars, and said front and rearriser bars are operated in predetermined sequence with each other.

13. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said means for moving the selectedcards in the first direction, after the downward movement of the riserbars, comprises a means for physically engaging the cards.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said last said means comprises arotating brush.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the last said means comprises atleast two rotating brushes for ruffling the cards to cause the selectedcards to drop relative to the rejected cards, one of said brushesengaging the top of the stack, and the other brush engaging a side ofthe stack.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said brushes include at least oneset of axially extending, axially and circumferentially staggeredbristles for exerting a force on the cards as the brushes rotate.

17. A method of sorting selected cards from a stack of cards containinga random collection of both selected cards and cards to be rejected,comprising the steps of, arranging the stack of cards with an edge ofall cards of the stack in alignment with each other, moving the selectedcards in a first direction such that the said edge of the selected cardsare positioned outwardly beyond the said edges of the rejected cards,moving only the rejected cards in a second direction which is generallyperpendicular to the first direction, and then moving the selected cardsin a third direction which is generally opposite to the first direction.

18. The method of claim 17 including the step of subsequently moving theselected cards in a fourth direction generally opposite to said seconddirection.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein said step of moving the selectedcards in a third direction comprises tilting the cards by moving onlyone end in said third direction, and wherein the step of moving thecards in the fourth direction comprises engaging that part of theselected cards which were tilted up as the selected cards moved in thesaid third direction.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein said first direction is a downwarddirection.

21. A method for separating from a stack of cards arranged with an edgeof all cards in alignment with each other, certain cards having apredetermined pattern of notches on said aligned edge, comprising thesteps of presenting to the said edges of the cards in the stack,selector bars corresponding to the said pattern, exerting a force on thestack to move the same in a first direction toward the selector bars,whereby the cards having the said notch pattern move farther than theother cards as the nonnotched parts of the cards having the said patternof notches moves between the said corresponding selector bars, movingthe said other cards relative to the selected cards in a seconddirection which is generally perpendicular to said first direction, andmoving the selected cards in a third direction generally opposite to thesaid first direction.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein said first direction is a downwarddirection and said second direction is horizontal and rearward andwherein said step of arranging the cards comprises arranging the cardson front and rear riser bars and said set of selector bars between saidriser bars, and wherein said step of moving the selected cardsdownwardly comprises moving the riser bars below the selector barscorresponding to the said pattern.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein said step of raising the selectedcards comprises tilting the forward ends of the selected cards'by movingthe front riser bar above the top of the rear riser bar.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the step of moving the selected cardsin the fourth direction includes engaging the parts of the selectedcards which were tilted upwardly for moving the selected cardsforwardly.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein the step of moving the selected cardsin the first direction comprises moving the selected cards downwardly byfrictionally engaging and ruffling the cards in the stack so that theselected cards fall downwardly as the raised selector bars enter thesaid notches while the rejected cards are held up by engagement of theirnonnotched edge portions with the raised selector bars.

26. Apparatus for sorting from a stack of cards having at least one edgeof all cards in alignment with each other, certain cards having apredetermined notch pattern on the said edge, comprising, means forpositioning the stack of cards with the said edges in alignment witheach other, means for presenting selector bars to said edge of thestack, the positions of which bars correspond to the predetermined notchpattern, and means for physically engaging the stack of cards to exert aforce thereon urging the cards towards the said bars, the last saidmeans including a rotatingbrush mounted to engage at least one of (a)the top or (b) the side edges of the cards to ruffle the cards to causeseparation thereof, whereby the cards having the said notch pattern movefarther than the remaining cards as the nonnotched parts of the cardshaving the said pattern of notches moves between the bars.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said means for physicallyengaging the cards comprises at least one rotating brush mounted toengage the top of the cards to ruffle the cards.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said rotating brush has at leastone set of bristles comprising a plurality of axially elongated bristlesstaggered axially along and spaced angularly about the periphery of thebrush.

29. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said means comprises at least onefurther rotating brush mounted to engage a vertical edge of the stack ofcards.

30. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein each of said brushes comprise atleast one set of bristles comprising a plurality of elongated bristlesstaggered axially along and angularly spaced about the periphery of thebrush.

31. Apparatus for sorting from a stack of cards certain cards having apredetermined pattern of notches on one edge thereof comprising frontand rear vertically movable riser bars for supporting the stack ofcards, and a plurality of selector bars between said riser bars, eachmovable to a raised vertical position such that any selected combinationof selector bars can be raised, a camshaft, at least first, second andthird cams mounted on said camshaft for rotational movement therewith,

means for operatively connecting the first cam to the front riser toraise and lower the same, means for operatively connecting the secondcam to the rear riser bar to raise and lower the same, and means forconnecting the third cam to said selector bars for raising and loweringselected ones of said selector bars, whereby said front and rear riserbars and said selector bars are raised and lowered in predeterminedsequence with each other upon rotation of said camshaft.

32. The apparatus as claimed in claim 31, including a lift bar extendingbeneath all the selector bars, a recess in each selector bar above thelift bar and positioned such that when the lift bar is raised it entersthe recesses, and means for moving each selector bar laterally, to movethe said recess laterally away from the lift bar whereby when said liftbar is raised, it engages the bottoms of the selected, laterally movedselector bars to raise the same, and wherein raising and lowering of thelift bars is dependent on the rotational position of said third cam.

33. The apparatus of claim 31 including a cover member above the cardsand positioned to engage the upper portions of the cards of the stacknot having the said notch pattern and moving those said cardshorizontally away from the selected cards having the notched pattern, afourth cam on the said camshaft, means operatively interconnecting thisfourth cam to the cover member, whereby said cover member operates inpredetermined sequence with said front and rear riser bars and saidselector barsv 34. The apparatus of claim 33 including a vertical armpivotable about an axis at its lower end, engaging said cover member atits upper end, and engaged by said fourth cam intermediate its upper andlower ends.

35. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein the means operatively connectingsaid first, second and third cams to said front riser bar, the secondriser bar and the selector bars, respectively, comprise two-armpivotable levers, one arm of which engages its respective cam, and theother arm of which engages its respective bar.

36. Apparatus for sorting certain selected cards from a stack of cardscomprising: a means for supporting the stack of cards; means forvertically separating the selected cards from the' remaining'cards suchthat the upper edges of either the group of selected cards or the groupof remaining cards are positioned above the upper edges of the cards ofthe other group; a housing, said housing including a horizontallymovable cover member above the stack of cards and positioned to engagethe uppermost one of said two groups of said cards; and means forinterconnecting the means for vertically separating the cards and thecover member such that the cover member is operable following thevertical separation of the cards to move the said uppermost group ofcards horizontally relative to the other group of cards.

37. The apparatus of claim 36 wherein said means for verticallyseparating the cards comprises means for lowering the selected cards,relative to the remaining cards, such that the upper edges of theremaining cards project above the upper edges of the selected cards, andsaid cover member includes a member projecting downwardly to engage theremaining cards and move them horizontally.

33. The apparatus of claim 37 including a means for moving the selectedcards upwardly after the remaining cards have been moved horizontally.

39. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein said cover member includes meansfor reversing its direction of travel so that it subsequently engagesthe raised selected cards and moves them horizontally in a directionopposite to its first said horizontal movement, to further separate theselected cards from the remaining cards.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the means for interconnecting thecover member and the means for vertically separating the cards comprisesa camshaft having a first cam thereon operatively connected to the covermember for determining the horizontal position thereof, and further camsfixed on the camshaft for detennining the operation of the said meansfor vertically separating the cards.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein said means for supporting thestack of cards comprises front and rear riser bars, the means for movingthe selected cards upwardly comprises the said front riser bar, and themeans for vertically separating the cards comprises a set of selectorbars, and means for raising predetermined ones of said selector bars tocooperate with a predetermined pattern of notches on the lower edges ofsaid selected cards, and wherein said front and rear riser bars and saidselector bars are operatively connected to said further cams on thecamshaft whereby the riser bars and the selector bars are operated inpredetermined sequence with each other.

42, The apparatus of claim 41, wherein said means for operativelyconnecting said cover member and said first cam comprise a generallyvertical drive arm pivotable about an axis at its lower end, said firstcam being an eccentric mounted on the camshaft and engaged with anintermediate part of the drive arm for oscillating the same about saidpivot axis as the camshaft rotates, the upper part of said drive armengaging said cover member for moving the same horizontally as the drivearm oscillates.

433. The apparatus of claim 62 wherein said connection between the drivearm and the cover member includes a pin connection for permitting upwardpivoting movement of the cover member about an axis through said pin.

44. The apparatus of claim 37 wherein said cover member includes avertical sideplate, a cam follower on said sideplate, a stationary camsurface of said apparatus being located below said sideplate, said camfollower engaging said cam surface to determine the-vertical position ofthe cover member relative to the cam surface, as the cover member movesfirst in one direction and then returns in an opposite direction.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein said cam surface includes anupwardly projecting part for raising said cover member, said upwardlyprojecting part being spring loaded for resilient movement in thehorizontal direction to delay the raising of the cover member as itreturns in the said opposite direction.

46. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the means for interconnecting thecover member and the means for vertically separating the cards comprisesa camshaft having a first cam thereon operatively connected to the covermember for determining the horizontal position thereof, and further camsfixed on the camshaft for determining the operation of the said meansfor vertically separating the cards.

47. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein said means for operativelyconnecting said cover member and said first cam comprise a generallyvertical drive arm pivotable about an axis at its lower end, said firstcam being an eccentric mounted on the camshaft and engaged with anintermediate part of the drive arm for oscillating the same about saidpivot axis as the camshaft rotates, the upper part of said drive armengaging said cover member for moving the same horizontally as the drivearm oscillates 48. In an apparatus for separating edge-notched cardshaving a predetermined pattern of notches, from other cards in a stacknot having the predetermined pattern of notches, and including a set ofselector bars, the set including one selector bar for each possiblenotch position on the cards, including means for moving certain ones ofsaid selector bars corresponding to the said pattern of notches,relative to the other selector bars, means for mounting the cardsadjacent the selector bars such that the separation of the said cardshaving a predetermined pattern of notches includes engagement of thecards with the selector bars, the improvement comprising, in combinationa device for forming notches in the cards, said device including aholding means for holding a card to be notched, a notching means forforming notches in the cards; wherein said notching means is operativelyrelated to said selector bars so that the notching means forms notchesin the cards in response to engagement of the notching means with thesaid certain selector bars at positions corresponding to the positionsof certain ones of said selector bars which have been moved to projectoutwardly, relative to the other bars to correspond to the said patternof notches.

49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein said notching means comprise apunch and die unit for each notch position, a recess betweencorresponding punches and dies, the set of punch and die units beingarranged side by side so that their recesses are aligned, said holdingmeans being located adjacent said aligned recesses so that the edge of acard held by the holding means projects into said aligned recesses, andeach punch being movable through its respective recess to notch the cardwhen acted on by its respective selector bar.

50. The apparatus of claim 49, said punch and die units being positionedside by side in close proximity to each other so that when a punch movesthrough the recess it shears the card against dies of adjacent punch anddie units.

51. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the edge of each punch, adjacentits respective recess, is curved to facilitate movement of the punchthrough the recess and between dies of adjacent punching devices.

52. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein said notching means comprises anotching assembly including a punch, said assembly being mounted formovement along the edge of the card to be punched, and actuating meansfor actuating said punch to form a notch at positions corresponding tothe said projected selector bars.

53. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein said actuating means includes aplunger means mounted on and movable with said assembly for engaging theprojected selector bars, as the assembly travels along the card edge, toactuate the punch to form notches.

54. The apparatus of claim 53, including means mounted on and movablewith said assembly for engaging each projected selector bar, after anotch has been formed, corresponding to the position of that bar, formoving that bar back to its normal position.

55. The apparatus of claim 53 wherein said actuating means furtherincludes a bar extending over the punch for its entire length of travelalong the edge of the card, a solenoid device,

selector bar, the drive means continues while the assembly remains atthat position to perform the punching operation.

57'. The apparatus of claim 56 including means for disengaging theplunger means from the projected plunger after each punching operation,so that the assembly can continue to be moved along the edge of the cardby the drive means.

58. The apparatus of claim 56 wherein said drive means includes adriving pulley, a cable between said pulley and said assembly, and aclamp connecting said cable to said assembly, the engagement of thecable on the driving pulley constituted said slipping connection suchthat the cable slips, relative to the pulley, when the plunger engages aprojecting selector bar.

1. Apparatus for mechanically sorting certain selected cards from astack of cards containing a random collection of both selected cards andcards to be rejected, comprising, a means for positioning said stack ofcards such that at least one edge of all cards of the stack are inalignment with other means for moving the selected cards in a firstdirection relative to the rejected cards to separate the said edges ofthe selected cards from the said edges of the rejected cards in the saidfirst direction, means for moving the rejected cards in a seconddirection generally perpendicular to the first direction, relative tothe selected cards, and means for moving the selected cards in a thirddirection generally opposite to the said first direction.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 including means operable after the last said meansfor moving the selected cards in a fourth direction generally oppositeto the said second direction.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein thecards are edge notched cards and wherein cards having a predeterminednotch pattern are separated from other cards of a stack which do nothave the predetermined notch pattern, and wherein said aligned edges ofthe cards contAining the notches and are the lower edges of the cards.4. The apparatus of claim 3 including a set of selector bars positionedbelow the cards, and means for raising certain ones of said selectorbars corresponding to said predetermined pattern of edge notches.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 4 including front and rear vertically movable riserbars mounted below the cards for supporting the same.
 6. The apparatusof claim 5, said front and rear risers are initially located at a levelat least as high as the certain selector bars for supporting the stackof cards, and including means for subsequently lowering the front andrear riser bars below the tops of the selector bars to permit the cardsto move onto the selector bars, whereby the selected cards move in saidfirst direction lower than the rejected cards as the nonnotched parts ofthe selected cards move below the top of the raised certain selectorbars.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said means for moving therejected cards in the second direction includes means for engaging theupper portions of said rejected cards.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7wherein said apparatus includes a cover member located above the cardsand movable in said second direction, and wherein said cover memberincludes an element which engages the rejected cards and moves the samein said second direction.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 including arotatable camshaft, said camshaft having at least four cams fixedthereon, the first cam operatively connected to said selector bars forraising the certain selector bars, the second and third cams operativelyconnected to said front and rear riser bars, respectively, and thefourth cam operatively connected to the cover member, whereby, byrotating said camshaft, said selector bars, said riser bars, and saidcover member are operated in predetermined sequence with each other. 10.The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said cover member also constitutes ameans for moving the selected cards in a fourth direction, opposite tosaid second direction, after the selected cards have been moved in saidthird direction until at least a part of said selected cards are locatedabove the rejected cards.
 11. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the saidmeans for moving the selected cards in the third direction comprisessaid front riser bar which is movable upwardly, independently of therear riser bar, after the rejected cards have been moved in the seconddirection.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11 including a camshaft having atleast three cams fixed thereon, a first cam operatively connected tosaid selector bars to raise the same, a second and a third camoperatively connected to said front and rear riser bars, respectively,whereby, by rotating said camshaft, said selector bars, and said frontand rear riser bars are operated in predetermined sequence with eachother.
 13. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said means for moving theselected cards in the first direction, after the downward movement ofthe riser bars, comprises a means for physically engaging the cards. 14.The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said last said means comprises arotating brush.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the last saidmeans comprises at least two rotating brushes for ruffling the cards tocause the selected cards to drop relative to the rejected cards, one ofsaid brushes engaging the top of the stack, and the other brush engaginga side of the stack.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said brushesinclude at least one set of axially extending, axially andcircumferentially staggered bristles for exerting a force on the cardsas the brushes rotate.
 17. A method of sorting selected cards from astack of cards containing a random collection of both selected cards andcards to be rejected, comprising the steps of, arranging the stack ofcards with an edge of all cards of the stack in alignment with eachother, moving the selected cards in a first direction such that the saidedge of the selected Cards are positioned outwardly beyond the saidedges of the rejected cards, moving only the rejected cards in a seconddirection which is generally perpendicular to the first direction, andthen moving the selected cards in a third direction which is generallyopposite to the first direction.
 18. The method of claim 17 includingthe step of subsequently moving the selected cards in a fourth directiongenerally opposite to said second direction.
 19. The method of claim 18wherein said step of moving the selected cards in a third directioncomprises tilting the cards by moving only one end in said thirddirection, and wherein the step of moving the cards in the fourthdirection comprises engaging that part of the selected cards which weretilted up as the selected cards moved in the said third direction. 20.The method of claim 19 wherein said first direction is a downwarddirection.
 21. A method for separating from a stack of cards arrangedwith an edge of all cards in alignment with each other, certain cardshaving a predetermined pattern of notches on said aligned edge,comprising the steps of presenting to the said edges of the cards in thestack, selector bars corresponding to the said pattern, exerting a forceon the stack to move the same in a first direction toward the selectorbars, whereby the cards having the said notch pattern move farther thanthe other cards as the nonnotched parts of the cards having the saidpattern of notches moves between the said corresponding selector bars,moving the said other cards relative to the selected cards in a seconddirection which is generally perpendicular to said first direction, andmoving the selected cards in a third direction generally opposite to thesaid first direction.
 22. The method of claim 21 wherein said firstdirection is a downward direction and said second direction ishorizontal and rearward and wherein said step of arranging the cardscomprises arranging the cards on front and rear riser bars and said setof selector bars between said riser bars, and wherein said step ofmoving the selected cards downwardly comprises moving the riser barsbelow the selector bars corresponding to the said pattern.
 23. Themethod of claim 22 wherein said step of raising the selected cardscomprises tilting the forward ends of the selected cards by moving thefront riser bar above the top of the rear riser bar.
 24. The method ofclaim 23 wherein the step of moving the selected cards in the fourthdirection includes engaging the parts of the selected cards which weretilted upwardly for moving the selected cards forwardly.
 25. The methodof claim 21 wherein the step of moving the selected cards in the firstdirection comprises moving the selected cards downwardly by frictionallyengaging and ruffling the cards in the stack so that the selected cardsfall downwardly as the raised selector bars enter the said notches whilethe rejected cards are held up by engagement of their nonnotched edgeportions with the raised selector bars.
 26. Apparatus for sorting from astack of cards having at least one edge of all cards in alignment witheach other, certain cards having a predetermined notch pattern on thesaid edge, comprising, means for positioning the stack of cards with thesaid edges in alignment with each other, means for presenting selectorbars to said edge of the stack, the positions of which bars correspondto the predetermined notch pattern, and means for physically engagingthe stack of cards to exert a force thereon urging the cards towards thesaid bars, the last said means including a rotating brush mounted toengage at least one of (a) the top or (b) the side edges of the cards toruffle the cards to cause separation thereof, whereby the cards havingthe said notch pattern move farther than the remaining cards as thenonnotched parts of the cards having the said pattern of notches movesbetween the bars.
 27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said means forphysically engaging the cards comprises at least one rotating brushmounted to engage the top of the cards to ruffle the cards.
 28. Theapparatus of claim 27 wherein said rotating brush has at least one setof bristles comprising a plurality of axially elongated bristlesstaggered axially along and spaced angularly about the periphery of thebrush.
 29. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said means comprises atleast one further rotating brush mounted to engage a vertical edge ofthe stack of cards.
 30. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein each of saidbrushes comprise at least one set of bristles comprising a plurality ofelongated bristles staggered axially along and angularly spaced aboutthe periphery of the brush.
 31. Apparatus for sorting from a stack ofcards certain cards having a predetermined pattern of notches on oneedge thereof comprising front and rear vertically movable riser bars forsupporting the stack of cards, and a plurality of selector bars betweensaid riser bars, each movable to a raised vertical position such thatany selected combination of selector bars can be raised, a camshaft, atleast first, second and third cams mounted on said camshaft forrotational movement therewith, means for operatively connecting thefirst cam to the front riser to raise and lower the same, means foroperatively connecting the second cam to the rear riser bar to raise andlower the same, and means for connecting the third cam to said selectorbars for raising and lowering selected ones of said selector bars,whereby said front and rear riser bars and said selector bars are raisedand lowered in predetermined sequence with each other upon rotation ofsaid camshaft.
 32. The apparatus as claimed in claim 31, including alift bar extending beneath all the selector bars, a recess in eachselector bar above the lift bar and positioned such that when the liftbar is raised it enters the recesses, and means for moving each selectorbar laterally, to move the said recess laterally away from the lift barwhereby when said lift bar is raised, it engages the bottoms of theselected, laterally moved selector bars to raise the same, and whereinraising and lowering of the lift bars is dependent on the rotationalposition of said third cam.
 33. The apparatus of claim 31 including acover member above the cards and positioned to engage the upper portionsof the cards of the stack not having the said notch pattern and movingthose said cards horizontally away from the selected cards having thenotched pattern, a fourth cam on the said camshaft, means operativelyinterconnecting this fourth cam to the cover member, whereby said covermember operates in predetermined sequence with said front and rear riserbars and said selector bars.
 34. The apparatus of claim 33 including avertical arm pivotable about an axis at its lower end, engaging saidcover member at its upper end, and engaged by said fourth camintermediate its upper and lower ends.
 35. The apparatus of claim 31wherein the means operatively connecting said first, second and thirdcams to said front riser bar, the second riser bar and the selectorbars, respectively, comprise two-arm pivotable levers, one arm of whichengages its respective cam, and the other arm of which engages itsrespective bar.
 36. Apparatus for sorting certain selected cards from astack of cards comprising: a means for supporting the stack of cards;means for vertically separating the selected cards from the remainingcards such that the upper edges of either the group of selected cards orthe group of remaining cards are positioned above the upper edges of thecards of the other group; a housing, said housing including ahorizontally movable cover member above the stack of cards andpositioned to engage the uppermost one of said two groups of said cards;and means for interconnecting the means for vertically separating thecards and the cover member such that the cover member is operablefollowing the vertical separation of the cards to move the saiduppermost group of cardS horizontally relative to the other group ofcards.
 37. The apparatus of claim 36 wherein said means for verticallyseparating the cards comprises means for lowering the selected cards,relative to the remaining cards, such that the upper edges of theremaining cards project above the upper edges of the selected cards, andsaid cover member includes a member projecting downwardly to engage theremaining cards and move them horizontally.
 38. The apparatus of claim37 including a means for moving the selected cards upwardly after theremaining cards have been moved horizontally.
 39. The apparatus of claim38 wherein said cover member includes means for reversing its directionof travel so that it subsequently engages the raised selected cards andmoves them horizontally in a direction opposite to its first saidhorizontal movement, to further separate the selected cards from theremaining cards.
 40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the means forinterconnecting the cover member and the means for vertically separatingthe cards comprises a camshaft having a first cam thereon operativelyconnected to the cover member for determining the horizontal positionthereof, and further cams fixed on the camshaft for determining theoperation of the said means for vertically separating the cards.
 41. Theapparatus of claim 40, wherein said means for supporting the stack ofcards comprises front and rear riser bars, the means for moving theselected cards upwardly comprises the said front riser bar, and themeans for vertically separating the cards comprises a set of selectorbars, and means for raising predetermined ones of said selector bars tocooperate with a predetermined pattern of notches on the lower edges ofsaid selected cards, and wherein said front and rear riser bars and saidselector bars are operatively connected to said further cams on thecamshaft whereby the riser bars and the selector bars are operated inpredetermined sequence with each other.
 42. The apparatus of claim 41,wherein said means for operatively connecting said cover member and saidfirst cam comprise a generally vertical drive arm pivotable about anaxis at its lower end, said first cam being an eccentric mounted on thecamshaft and engaged with an intermediate part of the drive arm foroscillating the same about said pivot axis as the camshaft rotates, theupper part of said drive arm engaging said cover member for moving thesame horizontally as the drive arm oscillates.
 43. The apparatus ofclaim 42 wherein said connection between the drive arm and the covermember includes a pin connection for permitting upward pivoting movementof the cover member about an axis through said pin.
 44. The apparatus ofclaim 37 wherein said cover member includes a vertical sideplate, a camfollower on said sideplate, a stationary cam surface of said apparatusbeing located below said sideplate, said cam follower engaging said camsurface to determine the vertical position of the cover member relativeto the cam surface, as the cover member moves first in one direction andthen returns in an opposite direction.
 45. The apparatus of claim 44,wherein said cam surface includes an upwardly projecting part forraising said cover member, said upwardly projecting part being springloaded for resilient movement in the horizontal direction to delay theraising of the cover member as it returns in the said oppositedirection.
 46. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the means forinterconnecting the cover member and the means for vertically separatingthe cards comprises a camshaft having a first cam thereon operativelyconnected to the cover member for determining the horizontal positionthereof, and further cams fixed on the camshaft for determining theoperation of the said means for vertically separating the cards.
 47. Theapparatus of claim 46, wherein said means for operatively connectingsaid cover member and said first cam comprise a generally vertical drivearm pivotable about an axis at its lowEr end, said first cam being aneccentric mounted on the camshaft and engaged with an intermediate partof the drive arm for oscillating the same about said pivot axis as thecamshaft rotates, the upper part of said drive arm engaging said covermember for moving the same horizontally as the drive arm oscillates 48.In an apparatus for separating edge-notched cards having a predeterminedpattern of notches, from other cards in a stack not having thepredetermined pattern of notches, and including a set of selector bars,the set including one selector bar for each possible notch position onthe cards, including means for moving certain ones of said selector barscorresponding to the said pattern of notches, relative to the otherselector bars, means for mounting the cards adjacent the selector barssuch that the separation of the said cards having a predeterminedpattern of notches includes engagement of the cards with the selectorbars, the improvement comprising, in combination a device for formingnotches in the cards, said device including a holding means for holdinga card to be notched, a notching means for forming notches in the cards;wherein said notching means is operatively related to said selector barsso that the notching means forms notches in the cards in response toengagement of the notching means with the said certain selector bars atpositions corresponding to the positions of certain ones of saidselector bars which have been moved to project outwardly, relative tothe other bars to correspond to the said pattern of notches.
 49. Theapparatus of claim 48, wherein said notching means comprise a punch anddie unit for each notch position, a recess between corresponding punchesand dies, the set of punch and die units being arranged side by side sothat their recesses are aligned, said holding means being locatedadjacent said aligned recesses so that the edge of a card held by theholding means projects into said aligned recesses, and each punch beingmovable through its respective recess to notch the card when acted on byits respective selector bar.
 50. The apparatus of claim 49, said punchand die units being positioned side by side in close proximity to eachother so that when a punch moves through the recess it shears the cardagainst dies of adjacent punch and die units.
 51. The apparatus of claim49, wherein the edge of each punch, adjacent its respective recess, iscurved to facilitate movement of the punch through the recess andbetween dies of adjacent punching devices.
 52. The apparatus of claim 48wherein said notching means comprises a notching assembly including apunch, said assembly being mounted for movement along the edge of thecard to be punched, and actuating means for actuating said punch to forma notch at positions corresponding to the said projected selector bars.53. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein said actuating means includes aplunger means mounted on and movable with said assembly for engaging theprojected selector bars, as the assembly travels along the card edge, toactuate the punch to form notches.
 54. The apparatus of claim 53,including means mounted on and movable with said assembly for engagingeach projected selector bar, after a notch has been formed,corresponding to the position of that bar, for moving that bar back toits normal position.
 55. The apparatus of claim 53 wherein saidactuating means further includes a bar extending over the punch for itsentire length of travel along the edge of the card, a solenoid device,lever means connecting the solenoid device to the bar such that whenactuated the solenoid moves the bar downwardly to actuate the punch,regardless of the position of the punch in its travel along the card,and said solenoid being actuated in response to engagement of saidplunger means with a projected selector bar.
 56. The apparatus of claim53 including a drive means for driving said assembly along the edge ofthe card, said assembly being connected to the drive means thrOugh aslipping connection so that when the plunger means engages a projectedselector bar, the drive means continues while the assembly remains atthat position to perform the punching operation.
 57. The apparatus ofclaim 56 including means for disengaging the plunger means from theprojected plunger after each punching operation, so that the assemblycan continue to be moved along the edge of the card by the drive means.58. The apparatus of claim 56 wherein said drive means includes adriving pulley, a cable between said pulley and said assembly, and aclamp connecting said cable to said assembly, the engagement of thecable on the driving pulley constituted said slipping connection suchthat the cable slips, relative to the pulley, when the plunger engages aprojecting selector bar.